Online Political Communication Research Articles

Campaigning Online: Web Display Ads in the 2012 Presidential Campaign

ABSTRACTAlthough much of what we know about political advertising comes from the study of television advertising alone, online advertising is an increasingly prominent part of political campaigning. Research on other online political communication—especially candidate websites, blogs, and social media—tends to conclude that these communications are aimed primarily at turning existing supporters into campaign donors, activists, and volunteers. Is a similar communication strategy found in online display ads—those ads placed adjacent to website content? In one of the first systematic analyses of the nature, content, and targets of online display advertising, we examined 840 unique online display ads from the 2012 presidential campaign. We show that the policy content, ad location, and interactive elements of the ads varied based on the audience, with persuasive appeals aimed at undecided or persuadable voters and engagement appeals aimed at existing supporters. Comparing ad content across candidates also found that each side focused on those issues for which the candidate had a strategic advantage. As a consequence, and in contrast to the conclusions of previous research that examines television advertising, we found minimal issue engagement in online advertising.

Fostering Dialogue or Monologue? Estonian Party Websites During the 2009 European Parliament Elections

This paper presents data from the analyses of political party web pages during the 2009 European Parliament elections in Estonia. It examines the presence and absence of web 2.0 features on the sites and aims to find out whether interactivity-based applications are used by parties to increase participation and to foster deliberative politics. Estonia as a small ex-Soviet country has emerged after the Soviet Union collapse as one of the most advanced e-societies in the world. Therefore, Estonia is chosen as a case study to explore whether and how decision makers use web 2.0 elements for fostering Habermasian dialogue between the citizens and the power holders in the society where technical obstacles for deliberative politics do not exist any longer. The results show that the Estonian parties still focus on the one-sided or top-down model of communication, based on web 1.0 features, even though all conditions for deliberation from the technical and infrastructural side in Estonia are fulfilled. The paper concludes with a discussion on the possible reasons parties might not be interested in using web 2.0 elements in their web campaign and how it might be linked to the conditions where citizens’ participation and interest in politics is low. There is also emphasis on the need for further systematic comparative research in order to draw conclusions on the changes in the online campaigning and political communication process in the era of cyber-democracy.

Who Talks Politics?: An Empirical Study of Online and Offline Casual Political Communication

Who Talks Politics?: An Empirical Study of Online and Offline Casual Political Communication

A study of relationship between family communication patterns and online political communication

A survey using a convenient sampling of korean undergraduate students was conducted to investigate the relationships between family communication patterns and online political communication behavior. Results showed that from conversation-oriented families tend to have a significantly positive relationship on online political communication participation (in the fields of chatting and online group discussion) through attitude and intention, while there was no significant relationship between socio-oriented communication pattern and online political activities. Based on the results, the author argues that the domestic communication environment of open discussion and sharing ideas would be an important trigger to increase an individuals online political participations. Implications of the study and future research topics were discussed.

Party and Candidate Websites: A Comparative Explanatory Analysis

This study provides a systematic investigation of party and candidate websites across five countries. It examines three prominent features of current online political communication (interactivity, political personalization, and mobilization). Furthermore it assesses to what extent country, party, and source characteristics explain differences in the usage of these features. In total, 63 websites and 416 pages in Germany, Romania, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Great Britain were subject to a systematic content analysis. The findings suggest that differences in party and source characteristics explain variation in levels of mobilization, interactivity, and personalization, with, for example, party websites trying to mobilize citizens while websites belonging to politicians are used as a platform for self-promotion. In general, results show that the division of countries into East and West European is less important.

Digital media use and participation leadership in social protests: The case of Tiananmen commemoration in Hong Kong

During the process of social mobilization for contentious collective actions, some ordinary citizens may play the role of participation leaders by making an early participation decision and calling upon others to join the collective action. This study extends the literature on the impact of digital media on political participation by examining if digital media can influence not whether individuals would participate in offline protests or not, but whether people would take up the role of participation leaders in such protests. Using the annual rally in Hong Kong commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen movement in China as a case study, usage of Facebook, microblogging services, and online alternative media are found to contribute to online political communication activities, which in turn lead to participation leadership. Further analysis shows that the impact of online political communication activities on participation leadership exists only among the young rally participants. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Incivility Online: Affective and Behavioral Reactions to Uncivil Political Posts in a Web-based Experiment

ABSTRACTWith the advances in interpersonal communication of the “Web 2.0” era, questions about the importance of civility are perhaps more important than ever. Mass digital interaction between strangers has become an everyday occurrence, bound by few behavioral norms. I argue that the widespread presence of incivility in online political communication limits the deliberative potential of online interactions. To test this hypothesis, I manipulate exposure to uncivil political discourse in an online discussion forum. I find that exposure to disagreeable uncivil political talk induces feelings of anger and aversion, which in turn reduces satisfaction with the message board discourse. On the other hand, exposure to like-minded incivility increases the use of uncivil behavior in political comments by message board posters. Notably, these effects mainly occur when histrionic, emotional incivility is present. I discuss why like-minded and disagreeable incivility have different effects, and reflect on what the presence of incivility means for online political discourse.

Online, all the time? A quantitative assessment of the permanent campaign on Facebook

Many claims have been made regarding the influence of social media like Facebook on activities undertaken by political actors. While the study of online political communication provides several different perspectives, few studies have attempted to uncover tendencies of so-called permanent campaigning in online environments. The term signifies campaign-like activities at the hands of politicians also during non-election periods and has spawned a number of conceptual discussions. This article presents an exploratory effort, studying traces of permanent campaigning in two similar countries—Norway and Sweden. As the former of these countries underwent a parliamentary election during the studied period, the study provides insights into “the election effect”—heightened levels of online activity among the Norwegian parties and politicians that can perhaps best be understood in relation to an ongoing election.

Politicians online – Identifying current research opportunities

For more than a decade, researchers have shown interest in how politicians make use of the Internet for a variety of purposes. Based on critical assessments of previous online political communication scholarship, this paper identifies a series of overlooked areas of research that should be of interest for researchers concerned with how politicians make use of online technologies. Specifically, three such research opportunities are introduced. First, we suggest that research should attempt to move beyond dichotomization, such as conceiving of the Internet as either bringing about revolutionary changes or having a normalizing effect. Second, while there is a considerable body of knowledge regarding the activity of politicians during election campaigns, relatively little is known about the day–to–day communicative uses of the Internet at the hands of politicians. The third section argues that as political communication research has typically focused on national or international levels of study, scholars within the field should also make efforts to contribute to our knowledge of online practices at the hands of politicians at regional and local levels — something we label as studies at the micro level. In synthesizing the literature available regarding the use of the Internet at the hands of politicians, the paper concludes suggesting routes ahead for interested scholars.

Political Social Media Sites as Public Sphere: A Case Study of the Norwegian Labour Party

Political interest and voter turnout is in steady decline. In an attempt to renew interest for political matters, political parties and governments have attempted to create new digital meeting places, with the hope that social media can contribute to renew the public sphere and thereby increase political awareness in the population. Communicating in new media demands adaption to the culture of the new medium, and the networked nature of the Internet poses challenges to old ways of thinking as we can no longer talk about one public sphere but rather a networked public sphere consisting of a multitude of discussion spaces. In this article, we contribute to the understanding of the networked public sphere and online political communication through a case study of MyLaborParty.no, a social network run by a Norwegian political party. Our findings indicate that political parties can create a thriving part of the networked public sphere, as long as they invite opposing voices to the discussion, communicate using the genres which facilitate discussion and have users or moderators who help spread ideas between discussion spaces.

Measuring Online Deliberation in Local Politics

Administrations increasingly use the internet to improve citizens' participation in political processes. While research on online political communication and e-democracy is growing, we still have little empirical evidence on the quality of online participation and deliberation processes. This paper focuses on an online local deliberation process, the 2011 Zurich City Debate, and seeks to investigate the specific quality of such online public communication. By building an index of a quality of understanding (IQU), the authors analyse 1.991 postings that participants have contributed in five thematic debates on local political issues. Five indicators were defined: statement of reasons, proposals for solutions, respect, doubts, and reciprocity. The authors conclude that participants have respectfully voiced opinions, that in two fora half of the postings were reciprocal, i.e. people exchanged views and commented on each other. However, the data gives the impression of a polite and reciprocal debate, but without much argumentation, propositions or doubts.

Social Media-PR Tools for Romanian Politicians?

While the social media optimists believe online political communication implies a bigger participation of the audience, this study shows that politicians are preoccupied with their political image and less concerned of building a dialogue with their voters. Our hypothesis is that politicians use online communication to build a certain image and they use social media less for developin g a relationship with their target audience. The content analysis method was applied on the Facebook accounts and on blogs belonging to the leaders of the Romanian parliamentary parties at two different moments: January-February 2012 riots and July- August 2012 Referendum campaign.

Reaching Inward Not Outward: Marketing via the Internet at the UK 2010 General Election

The Internet has been to date used as a space for simple promotion by political parties; websites present an opportunity for the delivery of non-mediated communication directly to the online audience and nothing more. However, new patterns in usage during campaigns, particularly that of Barack Obama, aided by the technological innovations that fall under the umbrella of Web 2.0, offer new models of online political communication. Through an analysis of the websites and linked online presences of six parties that stood across the UK at the 2010 General Election, we find a dual strategy for Internet campaigning emerging. The persuasive traditions of electioneering remain a feature; however, the key emergent function is one of internal marketing to party supporters and activists. Large sections of party websites are being dedicated to harnessing supporters and converting them to being donators, promoters, and campaigners both online and offline. This suggests that the Internet is increasingly embedded within election communication and online communication strategies are becoming a feature of most of the parties' marketing communication mix.

Getting closer: The effects of personalized and interactive online political communication

Political parties and politicians increasingly use the possibilities of the Internet to communicate interactively with citizens and vice versa. The Internet also offers opportunities for individual politicians to profile themselves. These developments are often said to bring politics closer to citizens, increasing their political engagement in politics. Empirical evidence for such claims is, however, scarce. In a scenario experiment and a laboratory experiment using real-world websites, the authors examine whether more personalized online communication (a focus on individual politicians) and the use of interactive features increase political involvement among citizens. The results from both studies demonstrate that both highly interactive and personalized online communication do increase citizens’ political involvement. Moreover, it was also found that political personalization positively moderates the effect of interactivity on political involvement, meaning that the effects of interactivity are even stronger in a personalized setting.

Politically un-interactive web: transformations of online politics in Slovenia

The present text approaches transformations of political institutions and their communication: first, from the perspective of their online representations and second, from the perspective of their designers and strategists. The paper argues that politicians use online tools and appear in online platforms according to the strategies designed by the very creators of online sites. The text focuses on the Slovene online political platform and its change over time, arguing that the early informational period of political online representations was transformed into a more individualised form of online politics. The strategic approach to online communication is grasped at different levels: it is a question of how the planners (1) perceive the web as a political tool, (2) understand the potential of interactivity and (3) reflect upon obstacles that disable two–way communication between political agents and citizens. A critical evaluation of the crucial obstacles to more interactive online political communication is presented.

Web campaigning in the 2009 European Parliament elections: A cross-national comparative analysis

Political communication has transformed drastically since the Internet made its way into the political arena. Political parties seem unable to do without a website or a social networking profile any longer, particularly in election campaigns. One of the many approaches to studying online political communication is measuring specific website features political parties, politicians and candidates utilize in order to engage visitors in the political process. Even though the analysis of online political communication has evolved over the years, website-feature analysis is still a valid instrument to study political actors. The explanations sought to understand website-feature utilization are found in earlier cross-national comparative studies (technological and human development) as well as new ones (political systems characteristics, ideology, participation and engagement). This study looks back on two prior cross-national comparative research projects and reports on a cross-national comparative analysis of 1026 candidate and party websites from 17 countries participating in the European Parliament (EP) elections of 2009. To analyze these data, some methodological improvements are made compared to earlier studies.

Social Media and Online Political Communication: The Role of Interpersonal Informational Trust and Openness

This study examines relationships among interpersonal informational trust and openness with Internet-based political activities and attitudes. Conceptually, it proposes the categorization of online spaces and activities as consumption or interaction types, and classifies interpersonal informational trust within inner and outer circles. Interpersonal informational trust was found to be positively associated with perception of online activities as political participation. It also was associated with use of all types of online media for purposes of political communication, but mostly with online spaces that require interaction with others. Interpersonal political openness showed positive association with the use of interactive-type Web sites for purposes of political communication.

Methodological and Ethical Challenges Associated with Large-scale Analyses of Online Political Communication

Emerging online arenas offer new possibilities for the study of online communication aided by computer-assisted methods of data collection. However, these possibilities also entail certain challenges. As online data collection such as “scraping” of web content becomes part of the methodological repertoire of non-technically inclined researchers, and as the data available for researchers to place under scrutiny grows ever more plentiful, we point to two challenges that need to be tackled if we are to grasp current developments. How can we make sense of the massive amounts of novel forms of mediated communication, and how can we approach them in an ethically sound manner? While all branches of media and communication research face these challenges, we are specifically interested in discussing them in relation to the broad field of political communication. Political communication research tries to understand and explain all forms of “purposeful communication about politics” (McNair 2003: 23). To do so, researchers have sampled newspaper articles, studied a selection of television broadcasts, analysed documentaries, or listened in on specific radio programmes. In the age of the mass media, these were perfectly legitimate approaches – and they still are. Yet political communication research has had to expand its arsenal of approaches. During the roughly 15 years that have passed since the Web emerged as a mainstream platform for mediated communication, researchers have tried to grasp its effect on political communication. The majority of such work, however, notably relies on traditional methodological approaches. If we wish to properly understand online political communication, we need to explore novel possibilities. To assess the importance of blog posts, twitter messages and other so-called social media outlets as platforms for political expression, to take one pertinent example, we first need to get an overview of the different types of these mediated forms of expression in our polity. This does not only entail intricate definitional delimitations, but also a some what daunting methodological task. Those trying to get an overview of the online communication during the latest Swedish election, for instance, would find a lot of material – too much even to get a perspective on, perhaps. The number of messages or utterances users of one not very widespread service (Twitter) themselves labelled #val2010” (“election2010”) amounted to over 100,000 during a one-month period leading up to the election. Still, empirical endeavours based on such data constitute necessary steps on the way forward for political communication research. And they clearly entail some challenges.

“Rejected Bits of Program Code”: Why Notions of “Politics 2.0” Remain (Mostly) Unfulfilled

ABSTRACT Recent conceptualizations of a “Web 2.0” focusing on enabling user-generated content has grown increasingly common in public discourse and among researchers. While hopes have generally been high regarding political use of online interactivity, most research projects on the topic have produced results contrary to these hopes. Most citizens seem to be content with staying consumers, not assuming more active roles. Similarly, most political actors have assumed a somewhat conservative stance to the Internet medium. This article presents a review of research done regarding online political communication and provides further theoretical insights into these patterns of “non-use” by employing structuration theory as developed by Anthony Giddens and Wanda J. Orlikowski.

Welsh-language provision on party websites during the 2010 UK General Election

The internet is now an important element of most political parties' communication strategies during elections. While online communication might be claimed to enable smaller parties and marginal voices to compete more effectively with major parties, it might also enable minority languages to challenge the existing dominance of majority languages in traditional political communication. This paper explores Welsh-language provision on the websites of the 18 parties which fielded candidates in Wales during the 2010 UK General Election. Three websites making bilingual provision are examined in greater detail, considering the Welsh-language experience in terms of information seeking tasks, the use of web2.0 and resource generation. Overall the provision of regional information relating to Wales and of Welsh-language material has remained remarkably static since the last General Election in 2005. It appears that only parties which regularly contest seats in Wales make regional provision and that Welsh-language provision is limited to those parties who have websites specifically orientated to Wales. The Welsh language does not appear to have been a priority in terms of online political communication for most of the parties campaigning in Wales during the General Election. Even on those sites making a bilingual provision, the quality, timeliness and extent of the Welsh-language experience varied considerably.